MySpace Introduces New Un-Facebook Like Privacy Settings

Can MySpace (NYSE: NWS) benefit from Facebook’s recent privacy woes? The company is updating its privacy settings to make them not Facebook-like; new privacy settings will be “simpler” and “more intuitive” — a contrast to Facebook’s settings which have been criticized for being too complex. Specifically, MySpace says users will now be able to easily control who can access all of the content on their profiles. The site previously had more granular settings but few were using them.

MySpace’s changes have been in the works for several months, so they’re not directly related to the recent backlash over some of Facebook’s moves, which have made it impossible for users to limit access to some of their profile information. But MySpace co-president Mike Jones does note in a blog post that the “last few weeks have been fraught with discussion around user privacy on social networks” and says that the company is announcing the changes now because of the recent “outcry.”

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Will users care? People might be shouting loudly about Facebook’s changes but they aren’t abandoning the social net in droves. The company is soon expected to reach 500 million users — a milestone Alley Insiderspeculates the site may announce soon to counter some of the bad press.

Um there audio quality is quite good. Stop basing at them, get a damn life.
I’ve discovered a ton of musicians on there and still aim.
I will always keep my MySpace account.
People who bash are the ones that use to love it, that’s whats wrong with society can’t stick to shit.

It’s really a shame that MySpace’s UI is so terrible.
As we all know the only thing keeping Myspace even slightly afloat is it’s ability to still be one of the primary destinations for music (second to YouTube). Even that however is standing on its last leg. The audio quality of it’s player is terrible, it’s interactivity functionality feels archaic by comparison to virtually every other social network on the net. Instead of investing money in revamping the privacy settings, and its functionality on the back end, Myspace should really think about ditching their current systems, and upgrading the UI to something consumers actually WANT!

“Hey Myspace? Ever heard of a Focus Group? how about AJAX? How about HTML5?”
I understand that changing the infrastructure of any site of that magnitude is costly, and burdensome, but if NewsCorp is serious about owning a social network that’s a significant competitor to Facebook they really need to step up their game and revamp. The Myspace brand, I believe, still holds a fair amount of goodwill. But in order to tap into that equity they’ll need to convince users that they’ve changed. It’s more that just privacy.